It is known to apply a sugar glaze to a ham by shaking granular sugar onto a ham while directing the flame from a torch onto the falling sugar before it reaches the ham. The heat from the torch flame caramelizes and/or melts the sugar granules as they fall and before they reach the ham.
It is also known to apply a glaze of sugar, spice, and other substances onto a ham by first dispensing melted sugar onto a ham from a reservoir of melted sugar then dispensing spice and other unmelted substances onto the ham's melted sugar coating. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,513,450 and 6,805,747 each disclose such a system in which sugar is first dispensed onto an inclined plate that is heated to melt the sugar and is positioned to pour the melted sugar into a reservoir. The reservoir is tipped to pour melted sugar onto hams as they're carried along a conveyor beneath the reservoir. A second reservoir dispenses a spice mixture onto the sugar coating before the coating hardens so that the spice mixture will stick to the coating.
What is needed is a method and apparatus for applying sugar or sugar and spice mixture to an edible object or a series of edible objects while providing improved glaze characteristics.